From opium eaters and hashish smokers. E.T.A. Hoffmann, Baudelaire, Poe, Trakl, Benn, Benjamin, Jünger, Huxley, and the hippies - they created their art under the influence of all kinds of intoxicants. Why? To suppress reality in favor of a virtual one? To expand consciousness? Or to provide a report from within a straitjacket? Kupfer offers compelling answers, including insights into the possibilities of intoxicated knowledge. At the same time, the handbook delves into intoxication in all its facets: in the arts, philosophy, religions, and in social and medical history. The focus is on European and American literature since 1800. Exciting and enlightening.